Vacuum rug cleaner attachment



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United States Patent 3,186,023 VACUUM RUG CLEANER ATTACHMENT Harold W. McCulloch, Mesquite, Tern, assignor to John E. Mitchell Company, Dallas, Tern, a corporation of Missouri Filed Oct. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 314,188 1 Claim. (Cl. 15--364) This invention relates to an attachment tool or tools for a vacuum cleaner, especially for use in vacuuming rugs, floors and in recovering liquids. In general, the basic tool has a relatively flat plastic or metal body with a recess in its lower side. An inlet socket extends upwardly from the center of the body to connect the recess to a vacuum source supplied by a vacuum cleaner. The body has a lower peripheral edge surrounding the recess and having variously spaced scraper teeth for knocking loose coarse surface dirt and mud from rugs. The spacing of the teeth provides the proper flow of air through the attachment tool. Within the recess one of several operating shoes may be mounted. The rug cleaning shoe is a fairly narrow brush having vertical bristles. These bristles dig below the top of the pile to dislodge dirt particles, hair and other trash in the rug. Alternatively, other shoes that may be mounted within the recess of the body include a felt shoe for cleaning wood floors, a steel shoe for cleaning concrete and other hard surfaces, and a squeegee shoe for recovering liquids.

This invention provides a unique pivotal attachment of two opposing brushes or other shoes that allows the brushes or shoes to swing between the front and back of the tool body, depending upon the direction the body is being moved. The brushes or shoes always swing to that position that will put them to the rear of the suction area. As a result, the brushes or shoes are never in front of the suction area pushing dirt away as the tool is used.

In a rug cleaning tool, brushes or other shoes work in cooperation with the vacuum only if they are positioned to the rear of the suction area so they can brush this trash or liquid forwardly into the suction area. In conventional rug cleaning attachment tools, brushes or other shoes are mounted along the forward and rearward sides of a suction recess. Then, when the tool is pushed forward, the rear brush pushes dirt or liquid ahead into the suction area; and when the tool is pulled rearward, the forward brush or other shoe pulls dirt into the suction area. The trouble with these conventional tools is that there is always a brush or shoe leading the suction area in the direction the tool moves, and this leading brush or shoe always pushes dirt away from the suction area.

The general object of this invention is to provide a tool for a vacuum cleaner that has a suction recess adapted to be connected to a vacuum source and that has operating shoes, such as a brush that is supported within the recess to move automatically to a position behind the suction area while keeping the shoe directed generally vertically into the rug pile, or cleaning surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rug or floor cleaning attachment tool for a vacuum cleaner that has a suction recess in its lower side for connection to a vacuum source and downwardly projecting teeth surrounding the recess so that the vacuum is pulled from the outer perimeter in the right proportions to give equal cleaning actions from all points of the suction. Another object is to provide a pivotally mounted brush or other shoe within the recess that automatically moves.to the rearward side of the suction recess as the tool is pushed back and forth so that the brush or other shoe always pushes dirt into the area of the suction recess.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination attachment tool for a vacuum cleaner that has a body for receiving pivotally mounted shoes for rug and floor cleaning, liquid recovery, and other purposes, the shoes being of inexpensive construction and being easily removable from the tool for replacement.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevation view of the attachment tool;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the tool with no operating shoes installed;

FIGURE 3 is a view in section on an enlarged scale along the line 3--3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a frame for supporting any one of various shoes, including a felt shoe, a steel grip shoe, and a squeegee shoe;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation view of the frame of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation view of a felt shoe adapted to fit into the frame of FIGURES 4 and 5;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of a shoe retaining pin;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation view of the shoe retains p FIGURE 9 is a side elevation view of a spring biased stud used with the shoe retaining pin;

FIGURE 10 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken along the line Ill-10 of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a side elevation view of the felt shoe,

the supporting frame and the shoe retaining pin assemblede together;

FIGURE 12 is a rear elevation view of the attachment tool with the felt shoe installed; v

FIGURE 13 is a bottom view of the attachment tool with parts shown in section and with the felt shoe installed;

FIGURE 14 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 1414 of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 15 is a side elevation view on an enlarged scale of an assembled steel grip shoe;

FIGURE 16 is a view in section taken along the line 1616 of FIGURE 15;

FIGURE 17 is a side elevation view on an enlarged scale of an assembled squeegee shoe;

FIGURE 18 is a view in section taken along the line 18-18 of FIGURE 17;

FIGURE 19 is an enlarged side elevation View of a fiber shoe for rug cleaning; and

FIGURE 20 is an enlarged left end view of the fiber shoe of FIGURE 19.

Referring now to the drawings, the basic attachment tool has a body 30 that may be made of plastic or metal. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the body 30 is relatively wide and not very tall. It has a top- 31, sides 32 and 33, a front 34, and a back 35.

The underside of the body 30 has a suction recess 36 in it that is defined by a horizontal top wall 37, side walls 38 and 39, a front wall 40, and a rear wall 41. The front wall 40 has central sides 4-2 and 43 that diverge slightly. The rear wall 41 has similar diverging central sides 44 and 45.

There is an upstanding inlet socket 48 above the center of the body 30. The inlet socket 48 has a passage 49 through it that communicates with the recess 36. There is an annular groove 50 in the socket 48 for releasably locking a vacuum cleaner hose in place, as is conventional. Thus, the inlet socket 48 can be connected to a typical hose that leads from a vacuum cleaner or central vacuum source, providing subatmospheric pressure. The sub-atmospheric pressure is then established in the shallow recess 36 by way of the passage 49 in the conventional manner.

The lower edge of the front 34 of the body 30 has a plurality of relatively closely spaced teeth 52 near its center. There are similar teeth 53 near the center of the back wall 35 of the body. On opposite sides of the central teeth 52, the front wall 34 has additional teeth 54 that have progressively larger spaces between them toward the sides 32 and 33 of the body 30. There are correspondingly spaced teeth 55 on opposite sides of the central teeth 53 at the lower edge of the back wall 35. There are also corner teeth 56 at the four corners of the body and a single wide tooth 57 at each end of the body. These teeth serve two functions. One is to scrape and comb the rug pile to help dislodge mud and other dirt and trash that are stuck to the pile and to break up relatively large particles of dirt. The other is to provide air spaces between the teeth to draw air into the suction recess 36 as the vacuum operates. The variation in the spaces between the teeth 54 and between the teeth 55 causes a greater volume of air to be sucked into the recess near the ends 32 and 33 to compensate for the tendency of the vacuum to be greater near the inlet opening 49, thereby giving an even and constant cleaning action at all points of the suction recess.

Near the end 32 of the body 30, there is a cylindrical recess 60 extending upwardly into the wide tooth 57. The inner side 61 of this recess 60 opens to the suction recess 36. A small threaded bore 62 extending from the back 35 of the body 30 communicates with the recess 60. Near the other end of the body 30, a similar recess 63 extends upwardly in the wide tooth 57, and has an open inner side 64 communicating with the suction recess 36. A small threaded bore 65 extends from the back 35 of the body and communicates with the recess 63.

Each of the threaded bores 62 and 65 receives a stud 66, shown particularly in FIGURES 9 and 10. Each stud has a recess 67 in one end that receives a detent 68 that has a round head 69, a shoulder plate 70 and a guide shaft 71. A compression spring 72 bears against the shoulder plate 7%) and biases it against a snap ring 73 that holds these part in the recess 67. The detents 68 are threaded into the bores 62 and 65 until the rounded heads 69 project into the recesses 60 and 63.

The recesses 60 and 63 with their detents 68 are designed to hold any of several different kinds of operating shoes. Most of the shoes are mounted in the supporting frame 75 illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5. The supporting frame 75 is made of two parallel strips of metal or plastic '76 and 77 that are bent at right angles toward one another to provide ends 78 and 79, and are then reduced in height and bent outwardly together to form adjacent mounting tabs 80 and 81.

A brass shoe retaining pin 82 is fixed to the tabs 80 and 81 of each shoe 75. As shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, each shoe retaining pin 82 is cylindrical and is sized to fit freely in one of the recesses 60 or 63. There is an annular groove 83 around the side of the pin 82 that is aligned with the head 69 of the detent66 when the pin 82 is in one of the recesses 60 or 63. A slot 84 is cut into the top of the pin 82. The tabs 80 and 81 of a shoe supporting frame 75 are press fitted into the slot 84 or are otherwise permanently secured therein.

There are several different kinds of shoes that the frame 75 can support. FIGURE 6 illustrates a felt shoe 86 that may be used to clean wood floors. As shown in FIG- URE 11, the felt shoe 86 is mounted between the frame strips 76 and 77 by rivets 87. FIGURES and 16 show a steel shoe 88, used to scrape and'clean concrete and other hard surfaces, mounted between the frame strips 76 and 77 by rivets 89. FIGURES 17 and 18 show a squeegee shoe 90, made of neoprene or other rubber or plastic material. Since the squeegee shoe 90 is narrow, it is bounded by two side strips 91, and these three parts are held between the frame strips 76 and '77 by rivets 92.

FIGURES 19 and illustrate a fiber shoe 93 that is held in a metal or plastic frame 94. One of the pins 82 is fixed to the end of the frame 94.

The operating shoes are used in pairs. Two of any kind may be releasably installed in the body 30. As shown in FIGURES l3 and 14, this installation is easily and quickly done by simply pushing the pin 82 that supports a shoe into the recess 60 or 63 until the spring biased head 59 of the detent 66 snaps into the annular groove 83. The pin will then hold its shoe in one of the two positions illustrated in FIGURES 12 and 13 until the shoes are manually pulled out with suflicient force to cause the detent heads 69 to yield. When the shoes are installed, they can freely swing about their pins 82 between the dotted line positions 86 and 86" shown in FIGURE 13.

In use, this tool is connected to a vacuum source. Whenever the vacuum is turned on, a vacuum is constantly maintained in the suction recess 36. The following action of the shoes occurs regardless of which shoes 86, 88, or 92 are being used. When the tool body 30 is pushed forwardly, with the forward side 34 leading in a forward stroke, the resistance of the rug pile or floor or other surface against which shoes bear, immediately pivots t0 the dotted line positions 86" illustrated in FIGURE 13. In this position, the shoes bear against the surface being cleaned and push dirt and hairs forwardly into the suction area 36 ahead of them. As shown in FIGURE 13, the dotted line positions 86" of the shoes places them to the rear of the inlet opening 49 and therefore to the rear of the source of subatmospheric pressure. Thus all dirt and loose material is moved into the vacuum area and is drawn out of the suction recess 36 by the vacuum source. On the return or rearward stroke, with the rear side 35 leading, the friction of the floor, rug pile or other 'surface immediately pivots the shoes to the opposite 45 in the rear suction wall 41 also provide positive stops for the shoes when they are in the rearward positions 86." These positive stops allow heavy forces to be applied to the tool when more pressure is needed for scraping.

As the shoes swing back and forth with the strokes of the attachment tool, it is notable that the shoes swing in a single, constant plane about their pivot pins 82. This plane is the plane of the floor or rug. Therefore, the shoes are always in contact With the floor or rug for the most efficient cleaning.

As the tool is moved back and forth, the teeth 54, 55, 56 and 57 help scrape the floor or rug surface to dislodge mud and other large pieces of dirt. Also, the brushes or other shoes help to dislodge large particles of dirt. At the same time, the spaces between the teeth admit air in the proper proportions to supply the vacuum created in the suction recess 36 so that all points in the recess 36 have uniform suction forces.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the preview of this invention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of this invention as defined by the claim appended thereto.

What is claimed is:

An attachment tool for a vacuum cleaner comprising a body, a suction recess in the lower side of the body, means to communicate the suction recess with a source of sub-atmospheric pressure, a pair of cleaning shoes within the recess, means at diametrically opposite sides of the suction recess for mounting the shoes with the lower sides of the shoes projecting below the lower sides of the body, so that the shoes can swing within the recess, each mounting means comprising a pin fixed to an end of the shoe, a recess in the lower side of the body for receiving a pin, a movable detent in the body, spring means biasing the detent toward the pin, an annular groove in the pin for receiving the denent to releasably lock the pin in the recess while permitting the pin to rotate, whereby shoes can be removed and replaced by diiferent kinds of substitute shoes without the use of tools, and a plurality of rigid downwardly projecting teeth surrounding the recess, the spacing being greater between the teeth that are positioned relatively more remote from the suction recess communicating means so that an even cleaning action is attained in all areas of the suction recess.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Peck.

Spencer 15-415 Tideman.

Finnell 15401 Mortensen 15--369 Cacciotti.

Hellstrom 15365 X Kemper 15371 Smithson et a1. 15364 X WALTER A. SCHELL, Primary Examiner. 

